Reel Critics

EDITOR’S NOTE: The Reel Critics column features movie critiques written

by community members serving on our panel.

‘Ashes’ good but falls short of book

Who could fail to be moved by Frank McCourt’s memoir, “Angela’s Ashes”?

This Pulitzer Prize-winning account of his “miserable Irish Catholic

childhood” is an improbable mix of cheerful humor, irony and heartbreak.

When I read the book a couple of years ago, it did not seem possible that

anyone could put this story on film.

Director Alan Parker’s ambitious film version nearly succeeds but falls a

little short of the mark. What is needed is more of the droll wit that

made the book so compelling -- instead we get a slight overdose of mushy

sentiment. I found John Williams’ score beautiful but distracting in

scenes in which silence would have been much more effective.

Set during the Depression, the McCourt family, living in cramped squalor

in New York, moves back to the slums of Limerick (as is wryly noted,

probably the first Irish family in history to do so) to be near Angela’s

family.

Her mother and sister have no regard for her husband, Malachy, who is

“from the north” and blamed for everything from their wretched existence

to bad hair days.

Malachy (Robert Carlyle) is a dreamer, wanting to do right by his family

but a hopeless alcoholic. Too often, he drinks away the wages that should

have gone to buying his brood a decent meal. The children love him

fiercely, though sadly aware of his flaws. He stimulates their

imaginations and manages to instill in them a sense of adventure.

Angela (Emily Watson) is worn out from bearing and burying so many

children. But for the sake of her family, she endures picking bits of

coal off the street, begging for scraps and worse humiliations at the

hands of the local charity, neighbors, priests and even her own family.

The film is shot at some of the actual locations and is faithful in its

recreation of the period. The young actors are especially memorable.

“Angela’s Ashes” may not be the feel-good movie of the season. However,

like the recent “The Hurricane,” it is truly an amazing story that

deserves to be seen.

SUSANNE PEREZ, 45, lives in Costa Mesa and is an executive assistant for

a financial services company.

‘Galaxy Quest’ is clever spoof of ‘Trek’

“Never give up, never surrender!” is the tag line quoted by “Peter Quincy

Taggart,” commander of the NSEA spacecraft Protector.

For four years, the crew of the Protector has set off on dangerous and

thrilling missions in space; then the classic 1970s TV series “Galaxy

Quest” is canceled. But not before creating a legion of die-hard and

dedicated fans, some of whom are a little more dedicated than the actors

could have ever imagined.

Twenty years later, we find the stars of the series still in costume,

unable to get other acting roles, making appearances at science fiction

conventions to earn a living.

Does this sound like another group of TV space adventurers who “boldly go

where no man (or woman) has ever gone before?” Well, it should. Because

“Galaxy Quest” is a pretty clever little spoof of the original “Star

Trek” TV series.

If you’ve never seen any of the original “Trek,” you may not get some of

the inside jokes in “Galaxy Quest.” But if you do know the series and

story lines, such as Capt. Kirk always getting the chicks (particularly

if they’re green), or security officers in red uniforms with no lines

always die, then you will really enjoy “Quest.”

The basic premise is that a group of real aliens has mistaken television

transmissions beamed into space for historical video documents from

Earth. Believing the “Galaxy Quest” crew to be space heroes, they beseech

the brave “captain” to help them in their real battle against an evil

foe.

Starring Tim Allen (“Home Improvement”), Sigourney Weaver (“Alien,”

“Gorillas in the Mist”), Alan Rickman (“Die Hard,” “Robin Hood: Prince of

Thieves”), Tony Shalhoub, (“Men in Black,” “Wings”), Sam Rockwell (“The

Green Mile”), Daryl Mitchell (“Veronica’s Closet”) and Enrico Colantoni

(“Just Shoot Me”), the cast of “Quest” is very talented and perfect for

their roles.

While I admit to being a fan of “Star Trek,” I am far from being a

Trekkie (or “Trekker” as afficianados call themselves). But even if

you’ve never seen a “Star Trek” episode or any of the movies, I think

you’ll find “Galaxy Quest” enjoyable.

Rated PG for mild language and violence, I give it a Brunette rating of

“bargain matinee.”

RICHARD BRUNETTE, 36, is a recreation supervisor with the city of Costa

Mesa and a Costa Mesa resident.